Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the situation in South Sudan where President Salva Kiir, speaking at a news conference on 16 August, threatened to have journalists murdered if they “work against their country” and where reporter Peter Moi was gunned down outside his office in the capital three days later.

Brushing aside criticism of media freedom violations at the press conference, President Kiir said: “Freedom of press does not mean that you work against your country. And if anybody among them does not know this country has killed people, we will demonstrate it one day on them.”

As far as death threats go, nothing could be clearer.

An employee of The Cooperate Newspaper and New Nation (a digital media outlet), Moi was shot dead yesterday by unidentified gunmen as he left his office to go home. His killers did not take his money or his mobile phone. The Union of Journalists of South Sudan called his death an intentional killing.

Although Moi's murder cannot, for the time being, be directly linked to his journalistic work or President Kiir's comment, it comes against a backdrop of extreme violence for journalists in South Sudan.

“It is absolutely criminal for a president to threaten his country's journalists with death,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“Certain words can kill, especially when uttered by a president. We urge Salva Kiir to quickly retract his comments and to issue a strong statement condemning crimes of violence against journalists. He has clearly played a role in the decline in the general security situation for journalists.

Deloire added: “As regards Peter Moi's murder, South Sudan's authorities must ensure that an independent, impartial and thorough investigation is carried out in order to quickly provide Moi's family with answers.”

Moi was the seventh journalist to be murdered in South Sudan since the start of the year. The most recent previous victim was radio journalist Tamazuj James Raeth, whose 20 May murder has yet to be solved.

Ever since the start of South Sudan's civil war in December 2013, President Kiir's government has resolutely sacrificed freedom of information in the pursuit of “security.” South Sudan is ranked 125th out of 180 countries in the press freedom index that Reporters Without Borders published in February.

Pakistan is among the countries that do not properly investigate and prosecute crimes against media professionals. Because of the near absolute level of impunity, most of the people who attack, injure or even murder media journalists in Pakistan remain free.

The report is based on incidents of crimes committed against journalists recorded by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) during the period 2012 to 2016. Most of the incidents of crimes against journalists, particularly killings, reported during this period are related to acts of politically motivated violence.

In the 27 cases of journalists murdered for their work in India since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, there have been no convictions. More than half of those killed reported regularly on corruption. The cases of Jagendra Singh, Umesh Rajput, and Akshay Singh, who died between 2011 and 2015, show how small-town journalists face greater risk in their reporting than those from larger outlets, and how India's culture of impunity is leaving the country's press vulnerable to threats and attacks

Latin America is, by far, the most dangerous region of the world for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). The lack of effective guarantees of human rights protection in Latin American States has created this dire situation.

Press freedom in the Philippines continued to be under attack from 2014 to 2015. The killing of journalists is continuing, with four journalists killed from May 2014 to May 2015. The trial of the accused masterminds of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre and their supposed henchmen is continuing, but with a primary accused was released, while a witness in the same case was killed.

This 96-page report profiles eight “strongmen” linked to police, intelligence, and militia forces responsible for serious abuses in recent years. The report documents emblematic incidents that reflect longstanding patterns of violence for which victims obtained no official redress.

Journalism in South Asia is far from an easy profession, as the 12th annual review of journalism in the region "The Campaign for Justice: Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14" portrays. But this year's report also tells the story of the courage of South Asia's journalists to defend press freedom and to ensure citizens' right to information and freedom of expression in the face of increasing challenges to the profession and personal safety.

RWB report is being published ahead of the presidential election scheduled for 5 April. It is the fruit of a fact-finding visit to the northern provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir in September 2013

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